Teaching to the test fails students - says Liberal Democrat Shadow Education Secretary

10.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Wed 17th May 2006

Responding to the OFSTED report into the teaching of maths in schools, Liberal Democrat Shadow Education Secretary, Sarah Teather MP said:"This report is a terrible indictment of the Government's policies on testing and league tables. Teaching to the test is the inevitable consequence of the government obsession with ranking schools by their exam results. Despite millions spent on advertising, increased salaries and golden hellos the Government still can't attract enough graduates into teaching. Standards in maths, science and modern languages are all under threat because of a lack of expert staff to teach them."

"We need to stop treating schools simply as exam factories. Teachers need the flexibility to teach, and pupils deserve the chance to grasp a proper understanding of these subjects."